


Can Never Be Together... Or Can They?

by pherryt



Series: Tumblr Ficlets [19]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Colleg AU, M/M, Multi, Panic, Polyamory, angst with happy ending, drunken courage, kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-16 10:53:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16952670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pherryt/pseuds/pherryt
Summary: Dean, Cas and Jimmy have been best friends almost since they met, none of them realizing any of them want more until one night when they get drunk together and Dean does something a tad foolish.Or not, as the case may be...





	1. The Drunken Kiss

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr Prompt 59:  
> deadly-kitten-kay asked: 25 djc (From the Kiss Prompt List)
> 
> What is it with DCJ and people wanting annnnnnngst? Well, you got it!
> 
> (and continued at requests so counting as tumblr prompts 60-62 for the following chapters)

Dean and the twins had been best friends since almost the very first moment they’d met in college. Dean had been roomed with Jimmy while Castiel had been placed with Benny, and the four of them had the corner rooms at the end of the hall on the third floor.

Why the twins hadn’t roomed with each other, neither ever said.

It was an arrangement that seemed to work well – though Benny and Cas took a while to warm up to each other. Dean and Jimmy had been an instant hit and if Dean was going to be honest with himself, 3 years later, he really wished he could have more.

The problem was – with which one?

Dean agonized about it so much that he never made a move on either of them. Now here they were, the start of senior year and the three of them were drinking in Dean and Jimmy’s room. Benny would normally have joined them but he’d gone on a date.

Which seemed to open the floor to Jimmy ribbing Dean about the fact that he hadn’t dated anyone since their freshman year. Cas, ever supportive of his friends, tried to derail Jimmy from the topic, but the alcohol had been flowing a little too freely.

“I mean, come on! You’re smart and handsome – “ Jimmy leered suggestively, “Guy like you, you could probably have anyone you wanted!”

Dean looked away. “Not anyone…” he said guiltily, wondering how disgusted the twins would be if he admitted he wanted both of them.

“Oh ho! So there is someone! You’re pining!” Jimmy chortled, jabbing Dean in the chest.

Jerking away, Dean glared. “Shut up, Jimmy.”

“We’re you’re best friends, Dean! I promise, we can keep a secret, right Cas? Eh, eh?” Jimmy elbowed his brother and Castiel sighed.

“I don’t think this is a good idea, Jimmy,” Cas protested, laying a hand on his brothers’ arm, trying to pull him back. Jimmy shrugged him off and took another swig of his beer and pointed at Dean.

“De-e-an!” Jimmy whined, “You gotta tell us! We can help, right Cassie?”

Shaking his head, Dean refused to look at either of them, though his eyes flicked up - almost too quick to see - glancing between the brothers before looking away again. Cas – less drunk than either of the other two – gasped and his eyes widened. Dean looked up sharply and flinched at the realization he saw on Cas’s face.

Jimmy blinked and stared between Dean and his brother, trying to work it out for himself. He bit his lip and then blinked as it came to him, not even trying to keep himself from blurting out: “Wait, wait, wait – hold the phone! You like Cas?” All joking had dropped from his tone, becoming unreadable.

“No, he likes you,” Cas said softly, his face now schooled to be just as unreadable.

Dean’s face was resigned as he raised his bottle to his lips and drained the beer before slamming it down. He stood up and this time the twins followed after, still blinking at him. Cas had to reach out and steady Jimmy as they rose.

“Dean?” Jimmy asked, “Where - ?”

“I wasn’t gonna tell you, cause I know it can’t happen but I… neither of you are wrong, okay? I like both of you cause I’m a selfish, greedy bastard and I can’t choose between you and… and… you’re both of you just so perfect and… and… fuck!”

Dean lurched forward and grabbed them both by their shoulders, pulling them unresistingly close in their shock. He tucked his head between theirs and took a shuddering breath. With two quick twists of his head, Dean managed to chastely kiss their cheeks before either of them could even register that it had happened, much less react.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I know we can never be together because of my stupid ass and I hope this doesn’t ruin our friendship and fuck my life, I really fucking hope to God that neither of you remember this in the morning,” Dean choked out, wincing as his voice cracked. He let go, grabbed his leather jacket and shoved his feet into his boots.

Shoes still unlaced, Dean rushed out the door of his dorm.

The door slamming shut finally broke the twins from their stunned trance. They blinked at the unassuming door. It was Jimmy who broke the silence.

“What… the fuck… just happened?”


	2. Running Away

Dean rushed out of the room so fast, he hadn’t had time to tie his boots. As he thundered down the stairs, that nearly proved his undoing. Thankfully, when he tripped, it was on the last step and he caught himself on the wall before he could fall.

He was still breathing hard, and it wasn’t all from the exertion of running or the adrenaline rush from his trip.

He’d told the twins.

He’d told Cas and Jimmy that he liked and wanted them both.

He’d even  _kissed_  them.

True, it hadn’t been anything more than a simple peck on the cheek(s) but he’d still  _done_  it. Dean had finally kissed them. After nearly 3 years of pining and indecision, he’d just gone right out and kissed both of them because he hadn’t been able to just pick one.

What the fuck was wrong with him?

He slid down the wall of the back stairwell and slumped on the bottom step, holding his head in his hands. What had he done? Fuck! He hoped to god the twins didn’t remember any of this in the morning. Because if they did, what was he going to do? He’d have to get a new roommate for one. Shit. It was his final year of college. He didn’t need the stress of breaking in a new roommate.

Plus, he didn’t really want to get away from Jimmy. Or Cas. Because let’s face it, where one went, the other followed - Dean still didn’t really get why they didn’t share their own room to begin with, but he’d never cared before. He’d always just been glad that it gave him the opportunity to get to know them better. To be closer to both of them. And now he was gonna lose them both because of his stupid confession!

Dean slumped further, lightheaded and dizzy and oh crap…he choked on a breath, hyperventilating, his eyes tearing up.

He was gonna lose them. No! he still had a chance! If they forgot, if they…if they…

What if they didn’t?

If they didn’t, then Dean had just ruined the best thing that had ever happened to him. How would he be able to convince them it was just a joke when he absolutely meant every word he’d said? How the hell would he defuse the situation?

It wasn’t possible. He couldn’t see any way out of this… _oh god, oh god, oh god…_

“Dean, breathe!” Strong hands grasped his shoulders and forced him to look up. “Brother, what’s wrong? Are you all right?”

Dean stared up blankly at Benny, the face of his friend blurry through his tears as he knelt before Dean where he still sat. Dean’s chest heaved as he angrily rubbed at his eyes, but while it wiped away the tears already streaking down his face, it didn’t stop more from falling.

“Aren’t…aren’t you on a…on a date?” Dean gasped out. “Wh-what are you…why…?”

“It’s late, Dean. Date’s over. I was just comin’ back from dropping Andrea off at her dorm. Now what happened? Where are the twins?” Benny asked gently.

Dean knew what he was thinking and it only made him feel worse. He closed his eyes against the pang in his chest and drew in a shuddering breath. Benny drew him forward and Dean’s head hit the other man’s chest and a pair of arms wrapped around him. Dean shook and tried to hold in the sobs. He was a grown ass man. He didn’t need to be blubbering all over Benny.

“What’d they do?” Benny growled. “It was Jimmy, wasn’t it? Cas is a little odd, but he’d never hurt anyone – not ‘less they deserved it. Then I wouldn’t want to be in the way of his righteous fury. But Jimmy, now, he’s a wild card, ain’t he? So, what’d he do? I should probably know ‘for I go beat him up for ya.”

Shoving at Benny, Dean managed to separate himself from his surprised friend.

“No! Don’t!” Dean yelled, panicked. His chest heaved as he stared at Benny pleadingly. “They didn’t – they didn’t do anything. It was me. I’m…I’ve ruined it, Benny. I’m gonna lose them – both of them. What the fuck do I do now? I don’t think I can…” Dean couldn’t hold it back anymore, the tears flowing more freely and his voice choked and broken. Sobs coming closer to the surface as he bit his lip, stopping his stream of words in an attempt to hold the sobs back a little longer.

“You finally confessed, eh? Damn, cher, you got balls…” Benny chuckled with a shake of his head.

“…wait, you knew?” Dean sniffed.

“That you’re in love with the twins? Brother,  _everyone_  knows. Except them two blind idiots.” Benny snorted and Dean’s eyes narrowed at him.

“What do you mean  _everyone_? And don’t you  _care_  about that?” Dean grumbled, wiping at his eyes. Now he was just plain confused but at least he’d managed to start breathing normally again. “Most people would.”

Most people. Like the objects of his affection. How could he possibly except them to want to share him, even if they were both interested? That’s not the way the world worked.

“Oh yeah, brother, you ain’t too subtle. How they don’t know you like ‘em both, will forever confound me.” Benny stood up, dragging Dean with him. “And no, I don’t much care, ‘s long as everyone’s happy and consenting. Same goes for the rest of the usual gang.”

“Yeah, but Benny, it don’t matter what  _we_  think. The twins…they were…they were _disgusted_  by me!” Dean’s heart clenched again, but at least the tears had stopped. Hopefully, he’d gotten it out of his system.

“Were they really, though? Or did you just take ‘em by surprise?” Benny said thoughtfully.

Dean paused, biting his lip again. “I…I’m not sure.”

“Well then, maybe you should find out?”

“Maybe,” Dean conceded. He looked down and rubbed at his neck. “But I can’t, not yet. I’m…we’d been drinking. I don’t think I’m in the best frame of mind, just now.”

“Hmm…I get ya, Cher. Now, what do you wanna do?”

“I can’t go back to my room,” Dean pointed out. “Nor yours. I’m not ready to face them. Not like this.” Not when he was still raw. He needed time to think, to regain his composure. Get some sleep, maybe. See if he had a new, better perspective in the morning.

Yeah, right. Like he was going to actually sleep after all this shit.

What if there was no perspective in the morning, sleep or no? What if Benny was wrong? What if he lost the best friends he’d ever had because he couldn’t keep his damn mouth shut?

Dean whined as the thoughts continued circling through his head, whirling and dizzying him in a constant barrage of what if’s.  Benny sighed.

“Okay, c’mon.” Benny wrapped an arm around Dean’s shoulder and steered him out of the stairwell and down the hall.

“Where - ?”

“Where do you think?” They stopped before a door covered in head to toe geekdom.

“Oh.” Dean said dazedly, face to face with the life-sized Hermione granger that was pride and center of the doorway while Benny knocked.

Moments later, Charlie opened the door with narrowed eyes and a grimace - ready to unleash on whoever had disturbed her. She took one look at Dean’s tear stained face and her face gentled. She looked at Benny. “Did he – “ Benny just nodded. “Okay, I’ll take it from here. You check on the twins.”

Before he knew it, Benny had left and Dean had been dragged in, deposited on the giant couch sized bean bag chair with a blanket tucked around him and a gallon sized tub of cookies and cream ice cream in his hands.

Charlie asked no questions, just curled up on the beanbag chair with him and chattered at him about her latest campaign till the spoon fell out of his lax hand and his head fell to rest on her shoulder. She sighed with a combination of worry and relief, her fingers carding through his short, spikey hair.

 


	3. Pep Talk or Riot Act?

Cas and Jimmy looked at the door in dumbfounded muteness.

It didn’t re-open.

Cas glared at his brother. “I told you this was a bad idea.”

“And  _I_  told you Dean liked  _both_  of us! This was the perfect chance to get him to admit it! I don’t get it…” Jimmy bit his lip uncertainly.

“Because  _most_  people don’t take polyamory seriously even if they  _do_  know what it is. And on top of that…you still don’t know how he’ll react to  _us_!” Cas growled.

“But he likes  _both_ of us, Cassie,” Jimmy protested weakly.

“That doesn’t mean he expects us to be okay with it. And he doesn’t actually know about  _us_ _._ That’s the stickler, Jimmy. It doesn’t matter if he’s attracted to both of us. What we are? What we  _do_ – that could be the thing that makes him walk away from us.” Cas’s fists clenched at his sides, his jaw ticked.

“Did you miss the part where he already did?” Jimmy demanded with a huff. “I say we go after him and explain everything and see what he thinks. Can’t get worse than it already is, now can it?”

“You don’t think it can get worse? Jimmy, you are delusional.” Cas rolled his eyes, turning away from his brother.

Jimmy grabbed Cas’s shoulder and pulled him back around. He saw the defeat in Cas’s eyes. “I know what you’re thinking, and yeah, I don’t think it can get worse. We’ve already decided he’s the one. And I don’t think you can live without him in our lives any more than I can at this point.”

“We can just pretend this never happened, that we don’t remember anything - just like he’s hoping we won’t - and we won’t lose him. We win,” Cas said softly.

“No, it’ll never work. He’ll be awkward around us and things’ll change, and we will have lost our chance to be honest and just ask him. Even if Dean is…disgusted by us…” Jimmy swallowed and Cas melted a bit, bringing his own arms up around his twin, bringing him in close. “He’s not the kind of person to go around and spill our secrets. He won’t make things worse for us. It won’t be like…”

“Like at home.” Both of them shuddered at the memory, of when they were younger, when they were just discovering their sexuality.

When their family discovered that they’d been ‘practicing’ with each other.

Things hadn’t gone well and even though they’d hidden and pretended ever since that things were normal, that they were brothers and brothers only – hence rooming separately at college, throwing people of the trail, so to speak – their family had never treated them the same.

It had become a dark and terrible secret that weighed heavily over their heads. With Dean, they’d felt normal, for once. They could ignore the fact that others condemned them for the way they felt, because for the first time in their life, there was someone else that meant just as much to them as their twin did.

They’d fallen in love with Dean before the end of freshman year. But Cas had been reticent to approach Dean even from the first and he’d not changed his mind in the time since. He could only see one way it would work, and it wouldn’t end happy. It would leave one twin feeling left out, or Dean being cheated on.

And that’s something Cas didn’t want to do to the men in his life that he loved.

It was better not to make a move on Dean. To keep what they had. There was no way people could look past what they were.

Was there?

After all, they’d already lived through it. The only reason they still were ‘accepted’ by their family, was because their family bought the line that Cas and Jimmy had grown up, learned better and moved on.

There was no way Dean would accept them as they were. So they had to hide it.

Didn’t they?

Oh, but Cas was so fucking tired of hiding this part of himself, of not being able to show his love and affection for Jimmy. Of having to pretend not just to the world in general, but to Dean of all people. It was more than obvious that Jimmy felt the same way. Cas hated that he was being less than truthful to someone who meant so damn much to him and Jimmy. Dean deserved more, deserved better. Better than them.

Within moments, the twins had sunk to their knees, clutching at each other. Cas was shaking but silent and Jimmy was trying to sooth his brother, but his own voice shook as he spoke, held fear mingled with his hope.

A knock brought their heads up sharply, pushing away from each other. Jimmy’s face lit up, “Dean?”

Cas choked as he rolled to his feet. “No, Jimmy. It’s not Dean. He wouldn’t have to knock on the door to his own room.”

Feet dragging, face filled with dread, Cas slowly opened the door and peaked out of the crack.

Benny stood there, hands in his pockets. He raised an eyebrow at Cas. “Well, Cas? You gonna let me in or what?”

“How do you always know that it’s me?” Cas asked, stepping back from the door and cautiously allowing Benny in.

Benny shrugged. “Just do. ‘lo, Jimmy.”

“Hi. Um, so hey, you know where Dean is?” Jimmy’s hands twisted as he spoke and Benny’s eyes were drawn down and then back up. He sauntered over to the desk and leaned his hip on it, crossing his arms over his chest and staring the twins down.

“I do. But he was mighty upset. Has this crazy fool notion you two are judgin’ him harshly for his confession,” Benny drawled. “Is he right? ‘cause, I mean, that’d be damn hypocritical of you to do so, if you did.”

“Judge – judging Dean? What? Fuck no!” Jimmy said emphatically, lurching forward, his nervous hands dropping to his sides.

Cas stepped forward in calmer, more measured steps, his eyes narrowed and he nearly growled. “What do you mean by that?”

Benny raised his hands placatingly and ducked his head into a strange little nod. “Hey, I got no problem what the two of you do behind closed doors. As I told Dean a little earlier tonight – I don’t much care, as long as everyone’s happy and consenting.”

The twins paled.

“What…what are you…we don’t…”

“Oh, don’t give me that “ _we don’t_ ” spiel. I ain’t blind. Dean, apparently,  _is_  though, if he ain’t figured it out yet,” Benny noted with amusement.

Cas’s stomach churned, his thoughts running in circles in his head. Benny knew? About them? How many other people knew? How many people were going to react with disgust and push them away and leave them alone and -

Arms came around him, forcing Cas to look away from Benny and focus on Jimmy. Jimmy blew out a breath and shook his head. “Cas, I know you’re scared about being open about this. God knows I am too, but if Benny already knows…and he doesn’t even  _care_ , you gotta calm down!”

Shaking his head, Cas opened his mouth. “Calm down? Society frowns on what we do, Jimmy. Finding one person who doesn’t care, doesn’t mean Dean will be okay with it! Of course, I’m scared. We can lose our friends – we can lose  _Dean_!”

“Brother, not only will you not lose all your friends – I know me an’ Charlie don’t care one bit, so there’s two you can count on – but Dean’s already convinced that he’s lost you. Just be honest with him. I think y’all be surprised,” Benny encouraged gently.

“It can’t be that easy,” Cas said stubbornly, but there was a hint of hope in his eyes.

“Nothing good is ever really easy,” Benny drawled. “You gotta work for it. So ask yourselves – is Dean worth it?”

“Of course he is!” Cas and Jimmy bit out simultaneously. “How can you ask that?”  

Benny shrugged. “Cause I ain’t in love with him.”

Jimmy coughed. “Bullshit.”

“All right…maybe I am, a little. Enough to want to see him happy. If you boys can do that, then I’ll support you, all the way. But if you screw this up…” Benny finally stepped away from the dresser and let his arms drop. His face was stern as he eyed them. “I’ll make damn sure you’ll both regret it.”

“Don’t worry, Benny. If we screw this up, you won’t need to do a damn thing to ensure that,” Jimmy said, rubbing at his brothers’ arms, Cas leaning into the soothing sensation but not taking his eyes off his roommate. “Now, where’s Dean? I think we have some talking to do.”

 


	4. Talking Solves A Lot

Benny refused to divulge Dean’s location, promising only to send Dean back in the morning. Cas and Jimmy dithered then, about where to spend the night. Should Cas go back to his own room? Should Jimmy go with him in case Dean needed space?”

“It’s your room too. You shouldn’t be chased from your own room and I must confess, I don’t want to be around anyone else right now, even Benny. Jimmy, I need you,” Cas said quietly.

“Okay, okay, c’mon, bro,” Jimmy said with a nod. “I feel the same. I only want you and Dean right now and since we can’t have Dean…” Jimmy pulled Cas towards the bottom bunk. Quickly divesting themselves of everything but their boxers, they crawled under the covers together. Jimmy wrapped his arms around Cas, his chest to Cas’s back, and rested his head against his brothers. “It’s gonna be okay, Cassie.”

“We don’t really know that,” Cas answered him, the rumble shaking Jimmy’s chest. Cas’s hands came to rest on Jimmy’s where it lay across Cas’s stomach, and he threaded his fingers between Jimmy’s.

“Go to sleep, Cas. We need to be well rested for the morning.”

“I don’t think I can, Jimmy. I’m too tied up in knots.” Cas turned in Jimmy’s arms and held his brother close, burying his face in Jimmy’s neck.

His twin sighed and scratched at Cas’s head, Cas leaning into the touch. “Yeah, I know. I don’t think I can either, but we gotta try, so we can be at our best for Dean.”

Cas pulled back, squinting at Jimmy. “Aren’t you the least bit scared that Dean will reject us?”

“Oh, hell yeah,” Jimmy shuddered in Cas’s arms. “But I can’t help but hope, y’know?”

“You always were the optimist of the two of us.”

“And you were ever the pessimist. A fairly good balance,” Jimmy pointed out.

“One that Dean embodies fairly well himself,” Cas noted. “He’s always been able to mediate our disputes in a way no one else ever has.”

“That’s why he’s a perfect match for us,” Jimmy agreed. Cas gave him a look and Jimmy rolled his eyes, conceding, “Okay, just one of the many reasons. But I hardly need to go through what we both know so well.”

“True,” Cas agreed.

Eventually, the normal exhaustion of the day, coupled with the emotional roller-coaster the last hour had brought on them, exacted its toll and the twins fell asleep in each other’s comforting arms, grateful that they weren’t alone. Of course, they thought guiltily of Dean. How must  _he_  feel? How was he dealing with all this? And he didn’t even know the half of it.

The twins woke groggily. It had been a long time since they’d felt safe enough to sleep in each other’s arms, and while it wasn’t ideal, they took a measure of comfort in it.

With a yawn, Cas blinked his eyes open first and, having rolled back over in the night, easily saw Dean sitting on the floor beside the bed. He stared at them, face unreadable, as he sat cross-legged and barefoot. It would have been adorable if not for the look on his face – lost, confused and wary, his eyes red.

Cas jerked up as he registered what –  _who_ – he was seeing. His exclamation of ‘ _Dean_ ’ was cut short as his motion caused him to hit his head on the upper bunk frame, not being used to bunkbeds and having forgotten where he was in his (surprise).

“Ow, fuck…” he groaned, rubbing at his head. Dean’s hand twitched as he leaned forward, wanting to go to Cas but holding back. Cas wasn’t sure what hurt more. His head or his heart.

“Cassie?” Jimmy rumbled behind him. “Wha’ happened?”

“Dean…”

Jimmy shot up, more carefully than his twin had, to peer at Dean over Cas’s shoulder. “Dean!”

Dean fidgeted and looked down, then up again, picking at his jeans nervously. “So uh, how drunk did you get last night?”

“Not  _that_  drunk,” Jimmy said. “We’re not lightweights.”

“We’re sorry, Dean,” Cas said.

Dean flinched. “Y-yeah, that’s what I figured. Shit…Benny and Charlie insisted that my uh…confession…was a good thing but…I can see that… I’m sorry, I should have known that…”

“No! Dean!” Cas blurted out hastily. “You misunderstand me! We’re not sorry about your confession – in fact, we…we were happy to hear it. More than happy – “

“Ecstatic, even,” Jimmy piped in.

“Yes, that. We just, I apologized because we could not do as you wished and forget your words – “

“Nor do we want to!”

Dean’s mouth dropped open and moved soundlessly for a moment. “I’m so confused. How is me liking the both of you even a good thing? You should be mad at me, or maybe jealous of each other or some shit.”

“We understand that where you grew up, how you were raised, it feels wrong to love more than one person but it’s perfectly valid as long as all participants are aware and willing. Which we are. It’s called Polyamory.” Cas explained.

“You just took us by surprise last night, otherwise we’d have stopped you before you left. We like you too, Dean,” Castiel assured his brother’s roommate. “Both of us do, and we’d been hoping you felt the same but didn’t dare ask because we’ve been afraid you’d be disgusted by…by our affections, should you learn the truth – which we never tell  _anyone_  –“

“Purposely, anyway,” Jimmy groused.

“- we’ve never been able to trust  _anyone_  with it. It’s the kind of thing that normally isn’t just frowned upon, but could have people locking us up for being ‘sick’,” Cas’s stomach twisted as he made his finger quotes.

“I- what? I’m so confused,” Dean repeated.

“Dammit, we are shit at explaining this,” Jimmy said, dropping his head between Cas’s shoulder blades.

“It’s not like we’ve had much practice at it. Maybe we should just…?” Cas twisted, catching Jimmy by the shoulder. The two of them exchanged silent looks, their eyes talking volumes that Dean couldn’t read.

“You sure?” Jimmy breathed.

“Like a Band-Aid right? Just…rip it off?” Castiel gulped.

Jimmy turned to face Dean. “Don’t freak out, okay?” Without waiting for an answer, Jimmy cupped Cas’s cheek and dipped in for a kiss, Cas’s eyes fluttering shut at the first soft touch of Jimmy’s lips to his own. It didn’t take long for it to turn dirty – with Jimmy at the helm, it never did, and Cas groaned, his own hand reaching out to clutch at his brother.

A sound beside them made them stop and with fear in both their eyes, they turned back to face Dean. He stared at them wide-eyed, breathing hard. He’d shifted slightly since they’d last looked at him and his hands were draped oh so casually in his lap.

Jimmy smirked.

Dean hadn’t been disgusted. He’d been turned on. A gasp from Cas caused Jimmy’s smirk to widen. Cas had just come to the same conclusion.

“So Dean, think you can work with that? If you like both of us, and we like both of you and we obviously,” Jimmy stroked a finger down his twins stubbled cheek. “like each other, why couldn’t we maybe be something together? All of us?”

“But…you’re brothers,” Dean protested weakly. “How would that even work?”

“Are you disgusted by us?”

“No! Fuck, that was…pretty fuckin’ hot, actually,” Dean licked his lips and Jimmy laughed, ducking his head into Cas’s bare shoulder.

“Then if you wouldn’t mind dating both of us, we actually have an idea about that…”

In no time, Jimmy and Cas had explained their idea and Dean was almost completely onboard except for one thing, “But I don’t want to hide that I’m dating both of you. Dude, I feel so damn lucky, I wanna shout it from a rooftop! Pretending that I’m only dating Cas and not Jimmy while I’m rooming with Jimmy gives us a great excuse for all three of us to spend the night in the same room but…dude…I don’t wanna hide. Do you?”

“Dean, we have to hide. We’ve had to hide ever since we started this. it’s no different then before,” Cas insisted.

“A compromise, then. A select group of friends who are in the know. Guys, I knew the both of you were under some sort of strain. I could see it every day, I just always thought it was school related. Now that I know the truth, its obvious hiding all the time takes a toll. We shouldn’t have to,” Dean said softly.

Dean didn’t even remember moving, but as he’d spoken, he wound up on his knees before the twins as they sat hunched on the bed. His eyes were level with theirs and he was close enough that Cas could have counted his freckles if he so wished (he so wished. One day, he wanted to be able to count them uninterrupted).

Taking one hand each in his own, Dean continued. “I have a feeling some of them know already. Like Charlie –“

“-and Benny,” Jimmy said slowly with a shake of his head. “Fuck…” Jimmy said with some wonder, looking up at Dean, then Cas. “Could we really…?”

“God, I hope so. Dean’s not wrong. I’d never give you up Jimmy, but hiding you was so damn hard. I like Dean’s idea. I just hope our trust is not misplaced.” Castiel mused.

“Then, is it settled?” Jimmy looked from Dean to Cas and back again, his excitement building.

“Yeah, I think so,” Dean laughed in disbelief. “How the hell did this happen? How did I score two awesome guys?”

“Does it matter? We’re here now,” Jimmy whispered.

“Dean, can we get a proper kiss this time?” Cas asked breathlessly.

“Oh, fuck, yeah! You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to kiss the both of you…” Dean grinned dopily as the twins hauled him up to the bed, placing him between them.

“Sounds like we need to make up for lost time.” Jimmy’s words ghosted over Dean’s mouth before sealing his and Dean’s lips together. Soon, the three of them were lost in trading kisses both chaste and downright filthy. They didn’t go any further, they didn’t need to just yet.

They were still too new, still too fragile.

But they were  _unbelievably_ happy, tangled together on the bed in warm embraces.

There was nothing better than that: the dopey smiles and soft, breathless giggles (“ _I’m not giggling!” Dean protested. “Then what would you call it?” “Uh…chortling! Yes, chortling! Stop that!” “Why, are you ticklish?” “Wh-a-a-t? N-no! What makes you think that?” “Oh, no reason…”_ ).

They spent the day holed up in Jimmy and Dean’s room, just getting comfortable with each other in this new way. It didn’t take long before the three of them felt like they’d been together forever.

So maybe Dean’s drunken confession hadn’t been a bad thing after all.

The twins certainly didn’t think so.

Okay, neither did he.


End file.
